High-speed carrier-depletion silicon Mach-Zehnder optical modulators with lateral PN junctions

This paper presents new experimental data from a lateral PN junction silicon Mach-Zehnder optical modulator. Efficiencies in the 1.4V.cm to 1.9V.cm range are demonstrated for drive voltages between 0V and 6V. High speed operation up to 52Gbit/s is also presented. The performance of the device which...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFrontiers in physics Vol. 2
Main Authors Reed, Graham T., Thomson, David J., Gardes, Frederic Y., Hu, Youfang, Fedeli, Jean-Marc, Mashanovich, Goran Z.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Frontiers Media S.A 01.01.2014
Subjects
52Gb/s
carrier depletion
electro-optic modulator
Mach-Zehnder
silicon photonics
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Summary:This paper presents new experimental data from a lateral PN junction silicon Mach-Zehnder optical modulator. Efficiencies in the 1.4V.cm to 1.9V.cm range are demonstrated for drive voltages between 0V and 6V. High speed operation up to 52Gbit/s is also presented. The performance of the device which has its PN junction positioned in the centre of the waveguide is then compared to previously reported data from a lateral PN junction device with the junction self-aligned to the edge of the waveguide rib. An improvement in modulation efficiency is demonstrated when the junction is positioned in the centre of the waveguide. Finally we propose schemes for achieving high modulation efficiency whilst retaining self-aligned formation of the PN junction.
ISSN:2296-424X
2296-424X
DOI:10.3389/fphy.2014.00077